LATIN AMERICA — Latin America is experiencing one of its worst human rights crises in decades, according to a new report by Amnesty International. From mass surveillance and political repression to violent crackdowns and forced displacements, the 2025 edition of The State of the World’s Human Rights highlights seven countries—Haiti, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, and El Salvador—where abuses have reached alarming levels.
Haiti: A Nation in Collapse
In Haiti, escalating gang violence and government collapse have displaced over 700,000 people—half of them children—by the end of 2024. Armed groups operate with near impunity, attacking schools, hospitals, and neighborhoods. In December, the Wharf Jérémie gang carried out a massacre in Port-au-Prince’s Cité Soleil district, killing at least 207 people.
The justice system has virtually ceased to function. Deportations from the United States and the Dominican Republic—nearly 200,000 in 2024 alone—have intensified under U.S. President Donald Trump’s reinstated hardline immigration policies, worsening the humanitarian crisis (source).
Nicaragua: Silencing Civil Society
President Daniel Ortega has dismantled nearly all democratic structures. More than 5,000 organizations, schools, and media outlets have been closed since 2018, with 1,500 shuttered in just the first nine months of 2024. Over 400 opposition voices have had their citizenship revoked since 2023. Journalists face arrest or disappearance, and Indigenous communities report violent displacement by pro-government militias.
Venezuela: Democracy in Freefall
Venezuela’s 2024 election was widely condemned as fraudulent. The aftermath saw mass arrests, reports of torture—including of minors—and suppression of journalists and activists. In September alone, 20,000 Venezuelans crossed the Darién Gap seeking safety, a 70% rise from the previous month. With 7.8 million already displaced in the past decade, the exodus continues.
The International Criminal Court has resumed investigations into alleged crimes against humanity by Nicolás Maduro’s government. However, the Trump administration’s retreat from multilateral institutions has weakened global pressure on Caracas.
Mexico: Militarization and Murders
A 2024 constitutional amendment placed Mexico’s National Guard under military control, leading to abuses including extrajudicial killings. Nine human rights defenders and four journalists were killed last year. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s final months in office were marked by growing hostility toward the press and asylum seekers.
Deportations from the U.S. under Trump have stranded returnees at the border, leaving them vulnerable to cartels and exploitation.
Colombia: Fragile Peace Under Threat
Colombia’s peace process remains under pressure. More than 195,000 people were displaced in 2024 as armed groups expanded territory. Former FARC combatants are being assassinated, and landmines now threaten over 600,000 lives. Investigations into military abuses face political resistance and shrinking budgets. Trump-era cuts to transitional justice programs have undermined international support for peace.
Cuba: A Climate of Fear
Cuba’s authoritarian clampdown has deepened. In 2024, over 100 protesters were arrested—many coerced into filmed confessions. Activists and journalists endure constant surveillance and harassment. As the economy collapses, 18% of Cubans have fled in just two years. U.S. sanctions, reimposed and intensified by the Trump administration, have worsened conditions.
El Salvador: The Prison Nation
Since 2022, President Nayib Bukele has jailed nearly 84,000 people under a state of emergency that suspends constitutional rights. Arbitrary arrests, public shaming, and surveillance are widespread. Trump’s open praise of Bukele’s “tough-on-crime” approach has offered international validation, despite widespread condemnation from rights groups.
A Region Under Pressure
Across the region, Trump’s return to the White House has had ripple effects. The administration’s rollback of international human rights engagement has emboldened authoritarian leaders and weakened accountability. Environmental destruction has also surged in the absence of U.S. diplomatic pressure.
At home, Latin American migrants in the U.S. face mass deportations and rising xenophobia. Raids on sanctuary cities like Chicago have resumed, with Trump’s rhetoric again painting migrants as criminals.
A Dangerous Normalization
The normalization of state violence and repression is taking hold. While grassroots organizers and communities continue to resist, international solidarity has diminished. Without urgent global attention, Latin America risks sliding into a new phase of entrenched authoritarianism—where the fight for human rights becomes not only dangerous, but, in some places, seemingly impossible.
